Friday, April 6, 2018
No Report on Monday
Speaker Todd Richardson and Investigative Committee Chair Jay Barnes said that the committee’s report will be released next week – but not Monday as previously thought. I’m guessing they don’t drop it on the governor’s birthday (Tuesday), so that gets us in the Wednesday time-frame if you’re playing the office pool.
Rumorville: Temple to be Deposed
Tipster whispers that Democratic operative Roy Temple is scheduled to be deposed on April 19 at the Graves Garrett law firm. Temple is to produce “any and all records, documents, memoranda or other evidence of any and all payments, or promises of payments, to the individual known in this matter as K.S., the individual known in this matter as P.S., or Albert Watkins or his law firm,” among other things.
ROTO… Reminder of the Obvious
In normal times the Republican State Party would be 100% focused on helping their U.S. Senate candidate… instead Party Chair Todd Graves is spending time, energy, resources and political capital defending the beleaguered governor.
Hawley Subpoenas Greitens
KCStar’s Jason Hancock and Lindsay Wise reports that “Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens has been served a subpoena by Attorney General Josh Hawley as part of an investigation into the governor's use of the resources of a veterans' charity for his 2016 gubernatorial campaign…
After a complaint was filed with the Missouri Ethics Commission, Greitens and his attorney signed a consent decree last year attesting that the list was given to his campaign in March 2015 as an in-kind donation from Daniel Laub, his campaign manager…”
Imagining AG Schaefer
One Dem asked me if I could imagine what would be happening right now if Kurt Schaefer had won the attorney general’s race instead of Josh Hawley. He recalled – half-admiringly – Schaefer’s killer instinct, saying that “Greitens would be under multiple AG investigations, and Schaefer would already be running for governor 2020…”
Follow-up on Tax-Payer Funded Lawyer
Appropriations Chair Dan Brown, answering a reporter’s question, assessed it: We do provide and pay for general counsel for the governor’s office, and something like this when you decide to hire your own counsel, I think that’s one of the discussions the committee will have and we’ll have it with some constitutional attorneys, and see. I don’t think that it’s probably appropriate… because if you don’t want to use your own general counsel, you don’t use counsel provided for you, and you want different counsel then I think you should probably be responsible for paying the bill, not the taxpayer. But it may be legal… I don’t know…
Desperately Seeking Caleb
One person who views hiring this latest attorney with funds from the governor’s budget as an “unforced error” blames the poor decision on the absence of an experienced hand in the Greitens administration. They think former deputy chief of staff Caleb Jones was the person who could have played that role on the 2nd floor. But he wasn’t listened to – which maybe contributed to his exit. Without someone like Jones, capable of blocking actions that contain bad/stupid/risky elements, the governor’s office feeds a seemingly endless string of news stories – most all of it concerning implementation, not policy.
The Case for Greitens Running Radio
From one building denizen… “The people who set [the scandal and indictment] in motion did it for political purposes. Greitens’ team had to punch back. Politics isn’t jury tampering. The press on this has been one-sided… No one would be expected to sit still with all that negativity swirling…”
Quote of the Day
What Sen. Bill Eigel should say to the governor if he continues a veto threat of tax reform: “Ok then, I’ll just wait a month and deal with Governor Parson…”
Pro Tem Ron Richard Talks Legacy
From his press availability yesterday: I came in at 4:30 the other morning because I couldn’t sleep, some of the issues going around, trying to figure out how I could help members get their legislation… So I was walking the hallways… I’m thinking about time in the House and how really “important” you are, but you’re really not, because the building going to be here, the hallway’s here, and all you’re going to be is a cameo on the wall. At some point in time they’re gonna say, “Who is that?” That’s OK. Members that I came in with… are going to leave this as best we can, better than we found it I hope…
Governing Mag Articles
Missouri isn’t mentioned in either of these articles, though it could be.
Confidential settlements -- which are often used to close the books (and keep them shut) on allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination -- have caused controversy on Capitol Hill… These types of secret-keeping contracts, though, are being used in state and local government, too…. See it here.
In March, South Dakota enacted a law that requires ballot measure campaigns to disclose their donors during the signature-gathering phrase. But the legislature backed away from a more sweeping disclosure bill last year, which would have required nonprofit groups that spend $25,000 or more on ballot measures to disclose their top 50 donors. Advocacy groups complained that this would discourage them from playing an active role in such campaigns… See it here.
New Committees
Lisa Buhr formed a candidate committee (Team Buhr) to run for House 49 as a Democrat.
Theresa Schmitt formed a candidate committee (Citizens For Theresa Schmitt) to run for House 120 as a Democrat.
Bradley Pollitt formed a candidate committee (Pollitt For House Of Representatives) to run for House 52 as a Republican. The treasurer is current Rep. Nathan Beard.
Robert Crump formed a candidate committee (Crump For State Senate) to run for Senate 4 as a Republican.
Willie Carter formed a candidate committee (Committee To Elect Chris Carter) to run for House 76 as a Democrat.
Tom Gorenc formed a candidate committee (Tom Gorenc For Missouri) to run for House 16 as a Democrat.
Austin Strassle formed a candidate committee (Citizens For Austin Strassle) to run for Kansas City Council Person At-Large District 4.
Lobbyists Registrations
Chuck Hatfield added Kansas City Royals.
J “Bret” Johnson deleted Colonial Mangagement Group, LP, and Missouri Automobile Dealers Association
$5K+ Contributions
Professional Firefighters of North St Louis County PAC - $15,694 from North County Professional Firefighters Pac Fund.
Missourians for Patient Care - $20,000 from Missourians for Patient care.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to John McCaherty, Mark Jones, Craig Overfelt, and Daniel Bogle.
Saturday: Ryan Rowden and Kaycee Nail.
Sunday: PJ White, Ron Leone, Mike Sutherland, and Mike Thomson.
